I Would Do Anything for Love...

When you're single, you devise all these "plans" (sometimes they can even be called "schemes") for how you're going to fall in love. Sometimes we play coy, sometimes we're downright aggressive. Who makes the first move? Should I call? Should I text? What might a Facebook poke accomplish? In regards to the latter, I'll tell you right now, it will accomplish nothing (See The Great Poke Experiment). No matter what it is you do, most are agreed that you have to do something.

But at what cost?

There is this push to define ourselves by who we love and who loves us, by who we claim as "ours" and who we're claimed by. And when you're unclaimed...man you say and do all sorts of crazy things. Sometimes it gets to the point where we're not defined by who we love, but by what we'll DO in pursuit of love.

Case in point: David and Bathsheba.

The Situation: 2 Samuel 11:1-3

In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army...But David remained in Jerusalem. One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”

The Underlined Stuff


My first thought when I read this is: "if this is when kings go off to war, what is KING David doing in Jerusalem?" I understand that the leader often stays back...nowadays, but I think back in they day, kings led the charge. Plus, David is known for being a warrior/fighter. Which leads me to:

1. When you are not where you're supposed to be. If you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing...you open yourself up for all manner of temptation 
2. David just found out this chick, though super hot, is MARRIED. Shouldn't that be the end? David is a king, but he is also a man of God. He knows the law (see Deuteronomy 22:22). But as we'll see in the next verse, maybe it's because of the favor he's already received from God, or maybe it's because he's overcome by the pursuit of love...but 

The First Move: 2 Samuel 11:4-5

Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her..The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.” 

Are those still like the scariest words a guy will ever hear? "I'M PREGNANT." I'm imagining it all slow and drawn out, and deep like in the movies. It's a real dramatic moment when you hear those words regarding an unplanned pregnancy. 

 This part requires no commentary, ya'll know what's up.

The Cover Up: 2 Samuel 11:14-17

This next part is just low-down. David invites Bathsheba's husband over...and they have a guy's night. They're eating and drinking, they might be discussing Selection Sunday (i.e. the chariot races). This dude must have been so hyped up, thinking: "I'm kicking it with the KING!" and then...

In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In it he wrote, “Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.” So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.

I tell this story because when I think of David, my mind immediately goes to: He killed a dude to steal his wife. 

That's messed up because:

1. David killed Goliath (becoming the inspiration for underdogs everywhere)
2. David  was the shepherd boy who became of King and God's elect (becoming the inspiration of underdogs everywhere)
3. David wrote many of the Psalms (which are a source of encouragement to MILLIONS)
4. Jesus is the Son of David (the promised everlasting kingdom)

But those are the thoughts I have after I think: He killed a dude to steal his wife.

He killed the underdog.

For me he becomes defined by what he would do for love.We will do some shady stuff for love. And while we're doing it we'll say "All's fair in love and war." According to society's view of love, all other laws are made to be broken in pursuit of love. You have to be willing to give everything, risk everything, deny EVERYTHING, for love. And that is true, when the love you seek is the love of Christ. But we're all too willing to flout the law of God, we're too quick to toss our integrity in pursuit of a different love, because we've elevated it above its station.

We've let the pursuit of it define us.

We have to become like a wise, profound songwriter who once said:

♫ I would do anything for love...but I won't do that...No I won't do that! ♫ - Meatloaf


 What is your "that"? But more importantly, what has been your "anything"?